House sitter murder suspect had been foster child in same home, prosecutor says
WOODBURY, N.J. (WPVI) -- The suspect in the killing of a house sitter in Woodbury, New Jersey was once a foster child in the same home, authorities say, and had gotten out of prison the day before the murder.
Brandon Wilson, 19, of Paulsboro has been charged with murder for the September 21 killing of 26-year-old Shawneeq Carter.
Gloucester County Prosecutor Sean Dalton said during a news conference on Friday it's believed Wilson intended to burglarize the home and Carter happened to be there.
Wilson was at that home as a foster child in 2015, Dalton said, and was arrested at that home in 2016 for being unlawfully in that residence. Dalton said that Wilson had been locked up in the Bucks County prison and was released just one day before the crime.
Investigators say Carter was beaten to death with a piece of gym equipment.
"She was a mother, she was a daughter, she was a sister, she was a beloved member of a family that is still mourning her loss," Dalton said.
"The silver lining is I have a grandson who is phenomenal," said her father, Shawn Carter. "He's getting therapy and stuff like that. He's going through the process and we're all going through the process."
"This is the first Thanksgiving I won't have my daughter at Thanksgiving dinner," Carter continued. "It's hard. It's real hard."
Wilson was also charged with endangering the welfare of children, because Shawneeq Carter's 5-year-old son and 5-year-old nephew were in the home.
The children didn't know what to do, and Sean Carter said in an earlier interview his grandson waited until the following day to walk and get help.
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